What A Rush.

Daniel Folmer Shares A Track From His Latest Release.

There are two consistent points found in every review of any Daniel Folmer project. First, that his output his prolific. Second, that his mood is ever-changing.

This weekend, as Folmer releases his latest album under his Danny Rush alter ego, we won't buck that trend. Because, yes, just two years after releasing his first Danny Rush album, Folmer, who had released plenty of solo discs prior, has a second one ready. And, per this new ego's forte, it's more country-tinged and of a darker mood.

Perhaps that much can be explained: Folmer's backing band, The Designated Drivers, derive their name from a running joke that the dubious Danny Rush persona will drink up the entire band's bar tab and therefore need to choose from his array of DDs to take him home. It's an identity that works well for the project, which is influenced more by the whiskey-soaked ballads and the rocker-turned-country characterization of a Gram Parsons than by Folmer's earlier folk and pop songs.

While not purely country, the harmonica- and pedal steel-laden tunes of the new album, called Brown and Blue, do maintain the level of brutal honesty so prevalent in that cosmic country era. It's a collection of loss and misery, of wounded hearts and broken bones, of desperation and desolation. But that's not to say the listening experience is a drag. Instead, Folmer presents the collection as a just-the-way-it-is take on life's hardships without any unnecessary fluff. The first single, “Brakeman,” is even delivered with a bit of self-aggrandizing swagger.

Stream the song below, then catch Danny Rush and the Designated Drivers on Saturday, June 16, at Dan's Silverleaf.